diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy-production.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy-production.yml
index 96cf7240..8979b1e7 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy-production.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy-production.yml
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ jobs:
           ssh "${ssh_options[@]}" "$remote" "install -d -m 700 '$incoming/.docker'"
           scp -i "$key_path" -P "$DEPLOY_PORT" -o BatchMode=yes -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=yes -o "UserKnownHostsFile=$known_hosts_path" artifacts/controller/controller.tar "$remote:$incoming/controller.tar"
           ssh "${ssh_options[@]}" "$remote" "tar -xf '$incoming/controller.tar' -C '$incoming' && rm -f -- '$incoming/controller.tar'"
-          previous_sha="$(ssh "${ssh_options[@]}" "$remote" "state='$DEPLOY_PATH/.state/deployed-revision'; if [ -f \"\$state\" ]; then cat \"\$state\"; else id=\$(sudo -n docker ps -aq --filter 'label=com.docker.compose.project=jyotisha-production' --filter 'label=com.docker.compose.service=web' | head -n 1); if [ -n \"\$id\" ]; then sudo -n docker inspect --format '{{range .Config.Env}}{{println .}}{{end}}' \"\$id\" | sed -n 's/^GITHUB_SHA=//p' | head -n 1; else printf not-deployed; fi; fi")"
+          previous_sha="$(ssh "${ssh_options[@]}" "$remote" "state='$DEPLOY_PATH/.state/deployed-revision'; id=\$(sudo -n docker ps -aq --filter 'label=com.docker.compose.project=jyotisha-production' --filter 'label=com.docker.compose.service=web' | head -n 1); if [ -n \"\$id\" ]; then sudo -n docker inspect --format '{{range .Config.Env}}{{println .}}{{end}}' \"\$id\" | sed -n 's/^GITHUB_SHA=//p' | head -n 1; elif [ -e \"\$state\" ]; then printf state-present-without-container; else printf not-deployed; fi")"
           [[ "$previous_sha" == not-deployed || "$previous_sha" =~ ^[0-9a-f]{40}$ ]] || exit 1
           forward_verified=false
           if [[ "$previous_sha" != not-deployed && "$previous_sha" != "$DEPLOY_SHA" && "$ALLOW_ROLLBACK" != true ]]; then
diff --git a/frontend/tests/staging-backend-workflows.test.ts b/frontend/tests/staging-backend-workflows.test.ts
index 43e44fca..8e08e440 100644
--- a/frontend/tests/staging-backend-workflows.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/tests/staging-backend-workflows.test.ts
@@ -965,6 +965,9 @@ test("Gitea production deploy consumes only gate-attested digests under manual c
   assert.match(workflow, /\[\[ "\$DEPLOY_USER" == "deploy" \]\]/);
   assert.match(workflow, /\[\[ "\$DEPLOY_PATH" == "\/opt\/jyotisha-production" \]\]/);
   assert.match(workflow, /bash '\$incoming\/deploy\/run-production-deploy\.sh'/);
+  assert.match(workflow, /docker ps -aq[^\n]*com\.docker\.compose\.service=web/);
+  assert.match(workflow, /state-present-without-container/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(workflow, /then cat \"\\\$state\\\"/);
   assert.doesNotMatch(workflow, /docker compose[^\n]*build|db:migrate/);
 });